Chapter Eighteen: Quick Flight
"No. We aren't doing that. You want to pay her back from your own pocket, Sarah. Be my guest. Besides I heard she and Stephen are a couple now so I don't think is our business but theirs" Carla replied.
"Carla! Elaine's money was the reason we have this new business and Tim said he's going to ring the police if we don't. He even agreed to monthly payments, so it's five grand for four months. That's it" Sarah tried to explain.
"This is stupid and unprofessional. And who cares if Tim rings the police. It be Stephen who gets in trouble, not us" Carla reminded her.
Though this was one of the reasons as Sarah pulled a face. She still cared about her uncle. Carla twigged onto this pretty easily as she gave a sarcastic smile to herself. She expected loyalty and Sarah was clearly not loyal to her, not even now. She went silent for a moment and this worried Sarah.
"Carla. I'll pay from my own pocket. Don't worry about it...I won't bother the business" Sarah quickly spoke up before giving her the chance to take things further.
"Okay Sarah but just know this. If I think for a minute that you're going to backstab me in the back like him. You're gone. There's a hundred people like you that I could employ in your place. A hundred not related to him" Carla warned with her pen pointing in her direction.
Sarah just nodding as she took that warning very seriously. She left the office and retreated back to Michael. Telling him what she just said and how they will pay her back throughout their own pocket. He just put his head in his hands as that was 2500 pounds a month between them for four months. He had Glory to think about, he looked back up at her.
"It's not fair, Sarah. It's not even us who is going to get into trouble if we don't do this. Why should we help?" Michael asked generally.
"I know but Stephen's my uncle. He's going through a rough patch and I don't want to see him go to prison. Not after everything he's done for me. I known him since I was like six. It's just so hard...The whole family is ripped apart. I miss the old Stephen" Sarah admitted with a single tear.
Michael pulling her in for a small hug. He forgot how personal it is for her, it doesn't matter to him but to Sarah, he's family. Sarah's known him for over thirty-four years. That just can't be erased overnight. She pulled apart quickly from him as she wiped away her tears, sorted herself out and looked through the paperwork. Scared that Carla might see her crumble.
"We'll get Elaine that five grand a month. We got a great business going on already and American investors. We've got this" Michael assured her.
...
Elaine drove Stephen back to Audrey's. This time however she didn't go in with him. She gave him a quick hug and another sorry. Watching him go in before driving away with much regret. Audrey found them alone again now and she didn't have Elaine to hide behind. She stepped away from him as she watched him remove his jacket and shoes. The same jacket he used to smother his own father with (not like she knew, she only knew that Geoff died; not how it was done). She doesn't think she wants to know.
"No Elaine this time?" Audrey asked with nervousness as she sat back down on her own chair.
"No. I think we need a break tonight. I hate this mom, this tension between one another. You're acting like I'm some sort of monster" Stephen answered as he sat on the opposite couch.
"You know what we went through with Richard-"
"Don't. Don't go there...I'm nothing like Richard Hillman. He hurt women and children. I would never ever do that" Stephen insisted firmly.
Though Audrey just turned away from him again. She didn't buy that he wouldn't cross this line, he's already into too deep. He killed his own father for a 20 grand, she can't get over that. The intent was obvious and it scared her to death. She remembered phoning him up after the Richard saga. How he scammed them all and everything he did. How they went to Canada to meet up, how Stephen was so angry and how much he insulted Richard. Lamenting that he couldn't go over and give him words.
"Was it Richard who changed you? I mean...Now I recall you during that time. You kept saying that Richard can't be trusted. I confided in you about him...You told me not to listen to him and that I wasn't going mad. You helped me" Audrey spoke through tears.
"I know and I was right, wasn't I?"
"Now you turned into him"
"No! I haven't...Please, for God's sake! Mom, Richard did it for kicks. I did it because I was panicked. They were all accidents"
"You don't accidentally murder four people, Stephen!" Audrey snapped in anger.
"I didn't murder four people! I...I didn't!"
"Oh I'm sorry for getting manslaughter and murder mixed up! I'm sorry that my head is all over the place! Knowing my son has turned into somebody I don't even know, somebody that I want to hate!" Audrey screamed.
Making him just put his head in his hands. She got up again as she went near the house phone. He looked up suddenly as he got up, watching as she pressed her hand down on this old phone.
"What are you doing? You promised me" Stephen spoke up.
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just standing near my phone in my house. That's all...What's bad about that?"
"Don't ring the police"
"Or what? You're going to accidentally kill me as well?"
"I'll kill myself. If the police come, I'll kill myself"
This made Audrey burst into tears again. That old threat was somehow worse than killing her. She hated everything about this, she didn't want her son to be dead. She thus took her hand away from the phone and sat back down. Not daring to a move a muscle. It's bad enough as it was without this. Stephen sat back down himself however he couldn't look her in the eye again. Audrey just sobbing to herself, wishing Alf or Lewis were here to help her. Oh God, she feels like she's got nobody to help her!
"If you care about me a little bit, Stephen. You'll go...I'll give you the money for anywhere you want. Just go back to Canada or Italy" Audrey pleaded.
"I got nowhere to go"
"You got plenty of places to go. Why do you want to stay here? Just to torment me? I can't do it anymore. You had no issue leaving before, so do it again"
"Okay. Well I want twenty grand to give back to Elaine. Then I want enough money to go back to Canada. Back to Québec" Stephen told her.
"Fine. Make sure it's the first flight out. You leave tonight"
...
Stephen had packed his bags. Audrey placed a large amount into his credit card and booked him a flight back to Canada. He tried to give his mother a kiss on the cheek goodbye but she just moved her face to avoid it. She burst into tears one last time as soon as he shut the front door. She quickly locked up (sliding the lock side wards for good measure). He walked away from 'Grasmere Drive' with over 30,000 pounds in his bank account (on top of the flight back). He took one last look at his mother's house, briefly seeing her in the window as she watched him go. The man made his way to the nearest taxi firm and booked himself a cab to the airport.
...
"What do you mean? He's gone...Audrey. He can't just be gone" Elaine spoke in shock the following morning.
"He's gone back to Canada, Elaine. You have your twenty grand back. That's the end of it. You aren't the first woman he has used and you won't be the last" Audrey simply replied.
"He needs me"
"He needs a break. I sent him on his merry way because he needs a break. I know what's best for my son. Not you"
"Well, is there a number for him?"
"I'm sure he'll give me and Gail his new number when he arrives. I'll give it to you when that happens"
"Fine" Elaine responded bluntly; putting the phone down.
She just felt so numb and used again. Why did men treat her like this all the time? She thought Stephen was different. Stephen had just gone back to Canada without even a goodbye, not even a thought about her. She didn't even care about the twenty grand anymore.
...
The man in question meanwhile had took a slight detour. His ex-wife Gabrielle had met him halfway as she took a flight from Milan to Dublin (where he was currently) as he claimed to be in urgent need of help. The woman he claimed was abusive to Elaine was the complete opposite. She gave him a smile as she walked over with an overnight bag.
"Okay Stephen. You wanted me in Dublin...I'm here in Dublin" Gabrielle announced with a wink.
"Thanks for coming. I know it's short notice. Mom found out that I was trying to scam her. She hates me" Stephen insisted (once again, only telling half the story for obvious reasons).
"Oh great. Let me guess...You have burned your bridges and you want me to ring and beg for her to take you back. Say that you were just confused and desperate-"
"She knows I left dad to die" Stephen admitted quietly.
This confession made Gabrielle grab onto his arm as she pulled him outside the airport. And into a more secluded part outside the airport where not many people walked. She stood apart from him and had a sudden angry look on her face, why was he stupid enough to admit that?
"Did you tell her I was there too?" Gabrielle asked in slight panic.
"No. I kept you out of it...Well mostly"
"What do you mean mostly?"
"She knows why we split up. About the dodgy deals and the fraudster in our company. How you blamed me-"
"I had every right to blame you!"
"I know okay! Listen, I'm scared okay. She's nervous around me, keeps comparing me to Richard Hillman. She knows what I am"
"Well you're not quite as bad as he was but you may as well be. You idiot!" Gabrielle snapped, giving his arm a small smack. He watched as her face changed again and she stepped away suddenly, asking..."Have you done more?"
"No-"
"Have you done more?!"
"Yeah. I...I have. I killed three people. Well one was an accident but the other two, they weren't" Stephen admitted.
"Oh no, no, no. I'm not dealing with this. No. Your dad was bad enough and he wasn't even done by you. Stephen, you're done for. They can find DNA by the smallest fingerprint, hair sample or whatever you have left behind. They will find it" Gabrielle reminded him.
"Should I go back to Canada?"
"You don't just go back to Canada. You go to the very deep secluded parts of Canada"
...
TBC